World Press Freedom Day 2023
Since 1993, World Press Freedom Day has served as a moment to honor the work of journalists and news organizations who use their platforms to hold the powerful accountable, provide fact-based news stories, and assert freedom of expression as a communal good.
PEN America is celebrating World Press Freedom through a global lens. Our organization is spotlighting a cadre of international journalists, editors, and publishers who speak truth to power and expertly navigate a continuously shifting media landscape.
Dynamic newsworthy stories are being produced in disparate locales but they share a common, vital mission: they inform the public on important political, social, and cultural issues, empowering individuals to make knowledgeable decisions concerning their communities.
Featured Events
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL Advance Film Screening & Talkback
Monday, May 1 at 6 PM ET
Location: Hunter College Roosevelt House
Sponsored by: PEN America, the Roosevelt House Human Rights Program
A team of Ukrainian journalists from the Associated Press (AP) trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.
After nearly a decade covering international conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war for the AP, 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL is Mstyslav Chernov’s first feature length film and an unflinching, anguishing account of the 20 days he and colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko spent covering Mariupol as the last international journalists left in the city. Drawing on Chernov’s daily news dispatches and personal footage of his own country at war, 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL is a vivid, harrowing account of civilians caught in the siege, as well as a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone, and the impact of such journalism around the globe.
In honor of World Press Freedom Day, join PEN America and the Roosevelt House Human Rights Program for an advance screening of 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, directed by Ukrainian war correspondent, filmmaker, photographer, and novelist Mstyslav Chernov.
Media Freedom in the Face of Blasphemy Laws
Wednesday, May 3 at 10:35 AM EST
Location: Satow Room, Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Sponsored by: Columbia GFoE and High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and PEN America
On World Press Freedom Day join the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom and special guests for the launch of the Report on International Standards related to Blasphemy Laws and Media Freedom, organized with Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression. This event is co-sponsored by PEN America. The report is authored by Karuna Nundy, member of the High Level Panel, and is the result of close collaboration with leading academic institutions from around the world. It examines national laws regulating speech that is characterized as ‘blasphemous’ and assesses the compatibility of those laws with media freedom. Reflecting on the right of journalists to operate free from control, censorship and harassment, this Panel will discuss the findings and recommendations of the Report.
Speakers:
- Catalina Botero, Consulting Director, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression
- Professor Can Yeginsu, Lecturer in Law at Columbia University, and Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
- Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, Director, IBA Human Rights Institute, and Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
- Hina Jilani, Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Human Rights Defenders (2000-2008)
- Karuna Nundy, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, Report Author
- Suzanne Nossel, Chief Executive Officer, PEN America
Meet Your Media: A Celebration of World Press Freedom Day
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 6 PM MT
Location: Changing Hands Bookstore, Phoenix AZ
In honor of World Press Freedom Day, enjoy a panel discussion between journalists from Arizona news outlets and USA Today. Representatives from print, radio, and television will describe their processes and criteria for determining quality journalism.
The Secret Surveillance of Journalists: Countering the Threat Spyware Poses to the Press and Freedom of Expression
Wednesday, May 3 at 10 AM EST
Location: Church Center, NY 10017
Sponsored by: Access Now, Committee to Protect Journalists, Knight First Amendment Institute, PEN America, Amnesty International, Freedom House
Content Moderation, Free Speech and the Eternal Search for Truth
Tuesday, May 3 at 12:10 PM EST
Location: Satow Room, Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Sponsored by: Columbia GFoE, Meta Oversight Board, and PEN America
There is little doubt that the internet and social platforms have changed the way we communicate, seek truth and hold others to account around the world. Mis and disinformation make headlines and have become a sticking point in the debate of whether this change is good or bad. The debate seems hottest in the journalistic sphere. On the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, this session will explore different approaches to the underlying values of journalistic ethics and integrity on platforms. How do new regulatory models, like the Oversight Board, approach this through content moderation? How are different forms of media evolving and adapting? Are the fundamental rights and values of freedom of expression and a free press still the same?
Speakers:
- Catalina Botero, Consulting Director, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression and Co-chair, Meta Oversight Board
- Suzanne Nossel, Chief Executive Officer, PEN America and Board Member, Meta Oversight Board
- Alan Rusbridger, Editor, Prospect Magazine and Board Member, Meta Oversight Board
- Michael Zelenko, Executive Editor, Rest of World
- Preethi Nallu, Global Director of Report for the World
Global Press Freedom Advocacy Institute
Tuesdays, April 4 – 25, 2023
(Virtual)
As part of the 2023 World Press Freedom Day global advocacy campaign, PEN America and the Student Press Law Center will be hosting the return of our Global Press Freedom Advocacy Institute over the course of four online weekly evening workshops.
A Brief History of PEN America’s World Press Freedom Day Celebrations
In 2019, PEN America launched our first World Press Freedom Day campaign in the United States in celebration with partner events across the country.
In 2020, we paid tribute to local journalist heroes covering COVID-19 and sustaining democracy amid a raging pandemic, rife with disinformation when lives depended on truthful information, public conversation, and probing accountability.